Eifert crucial to Irish offense

Fleet tight end proves himself with 57-catch, 5-touchdown year

December 27, 2011|By Brian Hamilton, Chicago Tribune reporter

ORLANDO, Fla. — On June 16, 2008, Tyler Eifert tried out for the Notre Dame football team over a camp lunch break. He caught everything thrown his way. And he was summoned to a golf cart for a 10-minute conversation with then-coach Charlie Weis.

I didn't expect to like you, Weis told Eifert, but I liked you a lot.

On the day that would determine his future, a future All-American tight end slept the entire drive from Fort Wayne to South Bend. Then, having crystallized said future, he walked over to family members on hand and said he wanted to play golf.

"One of Tyler's biggest strengths is that he's focused on what he needs to do when he's doing it," said Eifert's father, Greg, "and nothing else bothers him."

Should Eifert put off the NFL and return to the Irish in 2012 — and it's no foregone conclusion either way — that immunity to pressure will drive offensive fortunes. After record-hoarding wideout Michael Floyd departs following the Champs Sports Bowl, someone must catch big passes for Notre Dame.

The best available someone is the 6-foot-6, fleet-as-a-breeze Eifert. The question shouldn't be whether a spread offense can feature a tight end. The only question should be how to make Eifert the focal point of everything.

"I would hope I could," Eifert deadpanned about being the premier 2012 target. "I'll do whatever they ask me to do and contribute the best way I can."

That is apparently every which way after 57 catches and five touchdowns in junior season worthy of a Mackey Award finalist.

"He's a guy you can put anywhere on the field," quarterback Tommy Rees said. "He can play all four receiver positions and get the job done. With his athleticism and the mismatches he can present, he can definitely be a go-to guy."

By January 2009, surgery was unavoidable. During the procedure a broken piece of disc auspiciously popped out for doctors. Thus Eifert had twin motivations: To prove he could get healthy and to prove to new Irish coach Brian Kelly he belonged.

"Nothing ever stopped that kid from doing what he wanted to do," Greg Eifert said. "He always has been that way. He was the kid in the 5th grade who would cry after a loss. How many kids in the 5th grade cry after they get beat in a football game?"

Said Tyler Eifert: "I don't talk a lot, so people don't really have much to say about me or I don't have anything to prove them wrong about. I just worry about what I need to do to help us succeed. If I do my job, the rest takes care of itself."

Via those familiar with Kelly's offense, he knew it would offer chances eventually. Eventually arrived in full this year.

It must continue if Eifert continues at Notre Dame because what's best for the offense is testing whether its tight end can carry it on his back.

"When you think of a traditional tight end, maybe not," safety Harrison Smith said. "But that's not what Tyler is. People say it's a mismatch with him on a linebacker — it's a mismatch with him on a lot of safeties, a lot of corners. You can move him around, you can keep him in the traditional role, and he'll make plays anywhere."